Two blocks, one country
Passport Seva forms state the photo block in centimetres: 4.5 cm × 3.5 cm, which is 45 × 35 mm, the same portrait proportion used across Europe. The OCI card and the online visa portals instead ask for a 2 × 2 inch square — 51 × 51 mm — submitted as a file rather than pasted on paper.
That difference is where most Indian applications lose time. A candidate who prints a square, following the online portal, arrives at a form that is 10 mm taller than wide, and staff trim it on the spot. Trimming a square to a portrait block usually cuts the top of the head, which is a rejection reason in itself.
What the 35 × 45 mm photo must show
The block is a portrait rectangle, on a plain white background, with the whole head and the top of the shoulders in the frame and the face centred. Both ears should be visible where the applicant normally wears them uncovered. Glasses should be removed wherever possible, because glare across the eye is one of the most frequent Indian rejection notes.
Recency is stated by the form rather than fixed by the site: some Passport Seva forms ask for a photograph taken recently, and the safest reading is the same six-month window that most countries apply. Where the form gives no numeric head band, the practical rule is that the head is centred and uncropped, occupying most of the block height.
Squares for OCI and portal uploads
An OCI application wants a 51 × 51 mm square photo plus a separate scanned signature block, uploaded as a JPG or JPEG between 20 KB and 1 MB, with at least 600 × 600 pixels. The e-visa portal also expects a square JPEG. Both are checked automatically at upload, so the file size window matters as much as the face.
The signature is the step people forget: ink on plain white paper, cropped tightly around the mark, and checked for size before the photo is uploaded. A signature photographed on a patterned surface is the most common OCI upload failure, and it is not something the photo block can rescue.
The most common mistake is geometrical, not photographic. A sharp phone photo whose head fills the wrong share of the frame is rejected, while a plainer one with the head inside the band passes. The checker measures exactly that.
Checking an Indian photo before you file
Lay the trimmed photo over the printed box on the form. If any part of the head is cut off by the box, or a white sliver shows on one side, the photo is the wrong block no matter how good the likeness is. Then check the three things a counter cannot fix for you: background shadow behind the head, glare on glasses and the age of the photograph.
The checker preset for the Indian passport block measures the 35 × 45 mm proportion and the background, and the OCI page covers the square format and the signature package in order. The background guide explains why a wall that looks white in the room reads grey in the file.
| Requirement | What the official rule says | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ('Country / document', 'India — Indian passport — printed photo') | ('Printed size', '35 × 45 mm') | ('Head height', 'Not specified as a fixed band — keep the head centred and uncropped') | ('Digital upload', 'Not applicable — this one is filed on paper') | ('File format & size', 'Photo paper, no file limits') | ('Background', 'Plain white background') | ('Recency', 'Recent — not older than the application period stated on the form') | ('Glasses', 'Remove glasses if possible; glare across the eyes is a common rejection') | ('Official source', 'Official page') |
| ('Country / document', 'India — OCI card — printed photo') | ('Printed size', '51 × 51 mm (2 × 2 in)') | ('Head height', '25–35 mm chin to top of head') | ('Digital upload', '600 × 600 px minimum') | ('File format & size', 'JPG, JPEG, under 0 MB') | ('Background', 'Plain white or light background, no shadows') | ('Recency', 'Taken within the last 6 months') | ('Glasses', 'No glasses with tinted lenses; avoid glare') | ('Official source', 'Official page') |
Specification source: https://www.passportindia.gov.in/ · checked October 2026 · Passport Seva / MEA passport applications.
Specification source: https://ociservices.gov.in/ · checked October 2026 · Overseas Citizen of India application.